The present invention relates to a magnetic head for use in information recording and/or reproducing for a magnetic recording medium such as a magnetic tape or a magnetic disk, and, in particular, to a magnetic head with a slider for use in a high density magnetic recording system.
Magnetic heads used for a floppy disk driving apparatus, a video floppy driving apparatus, a hard disk driving apparatus, and others, are disposed to face the magnetic recording medium and have a non-magnetic block which has a principal surface facing the magnetic recording medium. The non-magnetic blocks are called sliders. For example, the magnetic head for the floppy disk driving apparatus comprises two non-magnetic sliders between which a head core is held with a magnetic gap exposed in the principal surface of the sliders. In the video floppy driving apparatus, thin film magnetic cores and coils are formed in a side surface of a non-magnetic slider while a magnetic gap is disposed in the principal surface of the slider. A magnetic head for the hard disk driving apparatus has a slider for generating a lifting force of the head. A single magnetic pole magnetic head of a main magnetic pole exciting type for a perpendicular magnetic recording system comprises sliders holding the main magnetic pole therebetween.
The slider protects the magnetic gap or the main magnetic pole as well as prevents the magnetic head and/or the magnetic recording medium from being partially subjected to a large stress so that a stable contacting condition is maintained between the magnetic head and the magnetic recording medium.
Conditions required for the slider are:
(1) good wear resistance;
(2) precise and easy working without chipping and cracking;
(3) non-porous and flat at its surface; and
(4) stable chemically.
Considering those conditions, it has been proposed that the slider be made of calcium titanate (CaTiO.sub.3), barium titanate (BaTiO.sub.3), non-magnetic ferrite (ZnFe.sub.2 O.sub.4), crystallized glass, and others.
In order to improve a recording density in the magnetic recording medium, a metallic medium and a thin film medium have been developed. Those media have a high toughness.
On the other hand, it is required that the space between the magnetic head and the magnetic recording medium should be reduced in order to realize the high recording density. As a result, a contact pressure is increased between the principal surface of the magnetic head and the magnetic recording medium.
Therefore, there is a problem of providing good wear resistance for the magnetic head.
When the above-described magnetic heads with the proposed sliders are used for the improved media with the high toughness, the sliders are readily destroyed due to the contact pressure and/or contacting impact between the sliders and the media because the propsed sliders are not sufficient in hardness and toughness in comparison with those of the improved media.